Work experience

Something to think about in these trying times, where the job market is (let's face it) fairly saturated, is work experience. There's no better way to get a head-start in the employability race than to boost your CV with as much experience as you can get your mitts on. Trust us, employers go mad for it.

​A week or two of unpaid work experience during your vacation doesn’t cost you anything but effort and may prove to be a clincher if you’re trying to get into something highly competitive when you graduate (such as advertising, the media or banking).

Apart from the obvious benefits for your CV, it may boost your morale and, if you make yourself genuinely useful, they may even think of you if anything that pays crops up. Ultimately, it beats chasing non-existent jobs.

Don’t let any employer take advantage of you, though. Even if they don’t pay you, they should at least give you expenses for travel and maybe even lunch.

Just a quick plug for Push’s own scheme – our research team is made up of high-flying students and recent graduates. We do pay, but we’re the first to admit it’s less than our researchers are worth.

Over the years, because we only skim off the cream of students, it’s come to be a well-respected feather in your cap as far as employers are concerned – especially in publishing, market research and the media.

voluntary work

It may honk more than a baked camembert but that doesn't stop it being true that what you get back from volunteering is far more than what you put into it. What's more, from a calculated and un-carebears approach, future potential employers will be very impressed by your obvious goodwill and determined spirit.

With so many opportunities to volunteer, now you can also choose something you're interested in, rather than volunteering to fish supermarket trollies out of the canal (not good on the back). You can volunteer in everything from conservation work (the National Trust - who look after historic monuments and land) to helping the disabled (Vitalise), from animal welfare (the RSPCA and other animal shelters) to helping the elderly (Help the Aged, Age Concern and the like). Have a look at www.studentvol.org.uk and www.do-it.org.uk for other ideas.

There are almost always restrictions and conditions involved with helping out any of these schemes and while some organisations will pay general maintenance and travel, don’t rely on it. Many schemes (such as i-to-i - who do work, volunteer or teaching projects) will even expect you to fork out big sums to be allowed to help.

But even so, it’s well worth investigating the options. It’s another line on the CV and will give you an inner feeling of harmony, man.

Most students’ unions have a Student Community Action group that does work with all sorts of local projects. Some are more active than others. Some are less active than lead.

internships and trainee schemes

The idea is that, by spending a certain period working in a particular environment, you get an idea of what goes on and how to do it. There may even be a certain amount of showing you the ropes, but as often as not an intern is a glorified teaboy or girl.

Still, an internship or trainee scheme – especially a genuine one – is not only useful work experience. Since they’re usually in high demand, it’s like having a neon sign on your CV: "I'm a goodun!". It may even be a first step towards getting yourself a proper job with the organisation.

Best of all, they’re often paid – not brilliantly, but what do you expect?

You may find them advertised in your university careers advice centre and there are guidebooks that list them (though the information is out of date almost before they hit the bookshops). Shell Step matches undergraduates up with business or technology projects in small and medium-sized companies.

Getting a place could involve an in-depth interview or even a series of interviews - especially if there’s a chance that they might end up giving you a job after graduation.

The big, corporate companies are always on the lookout for the next bright young thing, but it’s often a case of hundreds of applicants for every vacancy.

jobs abroad

If you haven’t gone for the Gap Year option and you have a serious case of wanderlust, remember you still have that gorgeous three month summer holiday each and every year for the duration of your course. And three months is plenty of time to organise a few weeks abroad, get yourself a cheap travel ticket and hop on a plane to a far-flung destination.

Backpacking and inter-railing are notoriously popular with plucky student adventurers and there’s no shortage of cheap travel firms, advice books and organisations. Assuming you can afford it.

However, if you’ve blown your loan months ago, maxed out the overdraft and can’t afford a holiday, then you face three options. First off, don’t go. Secondly, spend most of the summer working at some no-brain job and saving up for a week or two at the end.

Or thirdly, get a paid job abroad. You can supervise children on a summer holiday camp, teach, pick fruit, help run a hotel, assist a new business venture, be a nanny or an au pair (even if you’re a bloke), pan for gold…

If working abroad over the summer appeals to you, make enquiries well in advance and, if you want to join a particular scheme, apply as soon as possible (at least six months in advance) to beat the rush.

It’s a big bonus if you can speak a second language. Failing that, try America, Australia or New Zealand (where they speak something that sounds vaguely like English).

If you are going to be travelling to a country where you either don’t speak the lingo or it’s a bit rusty, consider taking a language refresher course – even if it only gives you enough to get by. Many universities offer them cheap to their own students, but often only term-time – so plan ahead.

You don’t even have to have the cost of the airfare to get abroad. If you get work on the Summer Camp USA and KAMP programmes then your flights are usually paid for. And BUNAC (www.bunac.org) have introduced a deal to give interest free airfare loans to cash-strapped students, who can then pay the money back as and when they begin paid work overseas.

But even if you get a deal like this, don’t leave home without enough dough (or some means of getting cash – such as plastic) to cover you for at least your first month. It can take easily that long for your first pay cheque to come through. If you’re going to have to rent somewhere to stay, take enough to cover not only the rent, but the deposit too.

Buy a return ticket (not just a one-way), so if things go pear-shaped – financially or otherwise – you can at least get home.

Working abroad presents a swamp of practical puddles. You need a visa to work in some countries. You may need injections. You may not be allowed to work at all.

Preparation is your safety net. Take plenty of passport photos for assorted forms and ID cards.

Talk to other students who’ve worked abroad. Ask them for tips and contacts. Even if you’ve no intention of getting in touch with their second cousin once removed who lives on the other side of the country you’re heading to, it may come in handy to have their number - when you land in jail for inadvertently giving a rude hand gesture when you only meant to hail a cab, it’s good to have someone to call.​​

Work experience

Something to think about in these trying times, where the job market is (let's face it) fairly saturated, is work experience. There's no better way to get a head-start in the employability race than to boost your CV with as much experience as you can get your mitts on. Trust us, employers go mad for it.

​A week or two of unpaid work experience during your vacation doesn’t cost you anything but effort and may prove to be a clincher if you’re trying to get into something highly competitive when you graduate (such as advertising, the media or banking).

Apart from the obvious benefits for your CV, it may boost your morale and, if you make yourself genuinely useful, they may even think of you if anything that pays crops up. Ultimately, it beats chasing non-existent jobs.

Don’t let any employer take advantage of you, though. Even if they don’t pay you, they should at least give you expenses for travel and maybe even lunch.

Just a quick plug for Push’s own scheme – our research team is made up of high-flying students and recent graduates. We do pay, but we’re the first to admit it’s less than our researchers are worth.

Over the years, because we only skim off the cream of students, it’s come to be a well-respected feather in your cap as far as employers are concerned – especially in publishing, market research and the media.

voluntary work

It may honk more than a baked camembert but that doesn't stop it being true that what you get back from volunteering is far more than what you put into it. What's more, from a calculated and un-carebears approach, future potential employers will be very impressed by your obvious goodwill and determined spirit.

With so many opportunities to volunteer, now you can also choose something you're interested in, rather than volunteering to fish supermarket trollies out of the canal (not good on the back). You can volunteer in everything from conservation work (the National Trust - who look after historic monuments and land) to helping the disabled (Vitalise), from animal welfare (the RSPCA and other animal shelters) to helping the elderly (Help the Aged, Age Concern and the like). Have a look at www.studentvol.org.uk and www.do-it.org.uk for other ideas.

There are almost always restrictions and conditions involved with helping out any of these schemes and while some organisations will pay general maintenance and travel, don’t rely on it. Many schemes (such as i-to-i - who do work, volunteer or teaching projects) will even expect you to fork out big sums to be allowed to help.

But even so, it’s well worth investigating the options. It’s another line on the CV and will give you an inner feeling of harmony, man.

Most students’ unions have a Student Community Action group that does work with all sorts of local projects. Some are more active than others. Some are less active than lead.

internships and trainee schemes

The idea is that, by spending a certain period working in a particular environment, you get an idea of what goes on and how to do it. There may even be a certain amount of showing you the ropes, but as often as not an intern is a glorified teaboy or girl.

Still, an internship or trainee scheme – especially a genuine one – is not only useful work experience. Since they’re usually in high demand, it’s like having a neon sign on your CV: "I'm a goodun!". It may even be a first step towards getting yourself a proper job with the organisation.

Best of all, they’re often paid – not brilliantly, but what do you expect?

You may find them advertised in your university careers advice centre and there are guidebooks that list them (though the information is out of date almost before they hit the bookshops). Shell Step matches undergraduates up with business or technology projects in small and medium-sized companies.

Getting a place could involve an in-depth interview or even a series of interviews - especially if there’s a chance that they might end up giving you a job after graduation.

The big, corporate companies are always on the lookout for the next bright young thing, but it’s often a case of hundreds of applicants for every vacancy.

jobs abroad

If you haven’t gone for the Gap Year option and you have a serious case of wanderlust, remember you still have that gorgeous three month summer holiday each and every year for the duration of your course. And three months is plenty of time to organise a few weeks abroad, get yourself a cheap travel ticket and hop on a plane to a far-flung destination.

Backpacking and inter-railing are notoriously popular with plucky student adventurers and there’s no shortage of cheap travel firms, advice books and organisations. Assuming you can afford it.

However, if you’ve blown your loan months ago, maxed out the overdraft and can’t afford a holiday, then you face three options. First off, don’t go. Secondly, spend most of the summer working at some no-brain job and saving up for a week or two at the end.

Or thirdly, get a paid job abroad. You can supervise children on a summer holiday camp, teach, pick fruit, help run a hotel, assist a new business venture, be a nanny or an au pair (even if you’re a bloke), pan for gold…

If working abroad over the summer appeals to you, make enquiries well in advance and, if you want to join a particular scheme, apply as soon as possible (at least six months in advance) to beat the rush.

It’s a big bonus if you can speak a second language. Failing that, try America, Australia or New Zealand (where they speak something that sounds vaguely like English).

If you are going to be travelling to a country where you either don’t speak the lingo or it’s a bit rusty, consider taking a language refresher course – even if it only gives you enough to get by. Many universities offer them cheap to their own students, but often only term-time – so plan ahead.

You don’t even have to have the cost of the airfare to get abroad. If you get work on the Summer Camp USA and KAMP programmes then your flights are usually paid for. And BUNAC (www.bunac.org) have introduced a deal to give interest free airfare loans to cash-strapped students, who can then pay the money back as and when they begin paid work overseas.

But even if you get a deal like this, don’t leave home without enough dough (or some means of getting cash – such as plastic) to cover you for at least your first month. It can take easily that long for your first pay cheque to come through. If you’re going to have to rent somewhere to stay, take enough to cover not only the rent, but the deposit too.

Buy a return ticket (not just a one-way), so if things go pear-shaped – financially or otherwise – you can at least get home.

Working abroad presents a swamp of practical puddles. You need a visa to work in some countries. You may need injections. You may not be allowed to work at all.

Preparation is your safety net. Take plenty of passport photos for assorted forms and ID cards.

Talk to other students who’ve worked abroad. Ask them for tips and contacts. Even if you’ve no intention of getting in touch with their second cousin once removed who lives on the other side of the country you’re heading to, it may come in handy to have their number - when you land in jail for inadvertently giving a rude hand gesture when you only meant to hail a cab, it’s good to have someone to call.​​